The Battle Continues: June Sales of Chevrolet's and Nissan's Coal-Powered Cars Posted; Volt Outsells the $109,000 Tesla Roadster (Now "Retired")

Update

July 4, 2011: Sales of Nissan Leaves soar:

The battle between the Nissan Leaf and the Chevy Volt continues. June 2011 auto sales figures were posted today and the Nissan Leaf has taken a commanding lead. Last month, 1,708 Nissan Leafs were sold, up from 1,142 Leafs sold in May 2011 and significantly higher than the 573 sold in April. Year-to-date Nissan Leaf sales total 3,875.

General Motors also saw an increase in sales of their newest electrified vehicle, the Chevy Vole, during June. In May 2011, Volt sales totaled 481 units. That number jumped up to 561 for June, bringing year-to-date Volt sales to 2,745. At the end of May 2011 there was only a 17-vehicle margin between year-to-date Leaf and Volt sales but now that has jumped to 1,130.

June 22, 2011: In the original post below I noted that the Volt had outsold the Tesla Roadster. Today it was announced that the Tesla Roadster has come to the end of the line. No more Tesla Roadsters will be built. The official sales figure for the Tesla Roadster remains at 1,650. Worldwide.

I find it amazing the spin "they" can put on these stories. For example, from the link: the Tesla was never meant to be a big seller; the company will now focus on a sedan; and, the roadster inspired the Volt.

The new Tesla offering, the S Sedan, won't be available until 2012. One would think that if the Roadster was such a "hot" car they would have kept it in production until their follow-up vehicle was ready. This would be like GM or Toyota halting all manufacturing in between new model releases, I suppose.

Original Post

Link here. We're talking about Chevrolet Volts and the Nissan Leaves.

Sales of plug-in electric cars continued at a steady pace in April, with 493 Chevrolet Volts and 573 Nissan Leafs [sic] sold during the month.

That brings yearly totals of the cars to 1,703 and 1,025 respectively.

There were also 326 Volts and 19 Leafs [sic] sold last December, the month in which each car first went on sale.

If I had the time I would post some comments, but maybe later.

For now, note that we are talking about 500 units/month for each. April was the first month in which the Nissan Leaves outsold Chevrolet Volts.

Someone told me that a shortage of extension cords was slowing the sale of the Chevy Volt. Apparently extension cords longer than five miles are very hard to come by. Smile. I only report what someone told me. I doubt this is true.

So, how do Volt sales compare with the Tesla?

With a total of 2,029 Volts sold, that model now becomes the highest-selling highway-capable electric car in the U.S. It surpassed estimated total deliveries of 1,650 for the Tesla Roadster since it went on sale very late in 2008.

Tesla Motors has consistently declined to report on its monthly sales. Each quarter's sales of its $109,000 Roadster and Roadster Sport models only become apparent once it files required information with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The linked article mentions several other coal-powered cars, including the "beleaguered Wheego."

I cannot make this stuff up.